What cookware for the stove?

[emt1581]

I'm guessing the best thing to use is cast iron but maybe not.

I plan to cook dinner on my stove the first night I have it. Haven't decided what to cook yet...any suggestions?

We were told at the stove shop that cooking on the top will mark it up. Is this true? Any tips to cooking on the stove top or keeping it looking new?

Thanks!

-Emt1581

 

[pen]

Here are a few pics of me cooking on the old stove. Haven't shot any pics w/ the new englander.

I prefer a cast dutch oven I have. The high sides keep splatters to a minimum. A layer of Aluminum foil under is a wise idea also.

Anything you would put into a crock pot would do well on the stove. I have a cast trivet that I would use to slow things down. Directly on the stove top for the equivalent of Med or High on the crock pot (completely dependent upon your fire of course too)

I also set the dutch oven on there and layer the bottom w/ 3/4 of an inch of kosher salt or so and then back potatoes on the salt. You could do the same w/ fish. Just save the salt when you are done as it can be reused over and over.

W/ the right coals you could stick one of my cast iron pans right inside the stove if you wished (if doing a steak for example)

I cook virtually exclusively on cast so I've got lots of options there. Restoring old pieces is a bit of a hobby of mine. The only concern I would have using a modern pan on top of the stove would be the handle. Many handles are only rated to 350 degrees.

pen

 

[katwillny]

I have an old cast iron dutch oven that i got while in college about 15 years ago. Woudn't put my Le Creuset on there.

 

[emt1581]

I appreciate the pics/info.

Hmm...I never considered that one...putting a dutch oven INSIDE the stove...but I bet that would be pretty efficient!

So wait...crock pot stuff? No boiling water for rice or pasta? No frying (fish, potatoes, etc.)? I figured the stove would be more versatile than just crock pot stuff, most of which usually gives me horrible heart burn.

Thanks!

-Emt1581

 

[pen]

I appreciate the pics/info.

Hmm...I never considered that one...putting a dutch oven INSIDE the stove...but I bet that would be pretty efficient!

So wait...crock pot stuff? No boiling water for rice or pasta? No frying (fish, potatoes, etc.)? I figured the stove would be more versatile than just crock pot stuff, most of which usually gives me horrible heart burn.

Thanks!

-Emt1581

That's not going to happen unless you have a burner lid to lift off so that you have flames licking the bottom of your pot and are using a pot w/ a fire ring.

pen

 

[pen]

I have an old cast iron dutch oven that i got while in college about 15 years ago. Woudn't put my Le Creuset on there.

That fancy french dutch oven can take a blistering from propane or a glowing electric coil but would get injured on the top of your stove?

pen

 

[emt1581]

I appreciate the pics/info.

Hmm...I never considered that one...putting a dutch oven INSIDE the stove...but I bet that would be pretty efficient!

So wait...crock pot stuff? No boiling water for rice or pasta? No frying (fish, potatoes, etc.)? I figured the stove would be more versatile than just crock pot stuff, most of which usually gives me horrible heart burn.

Thanks!

-Emt1581

That's not going to happen unless you have a burner lid to lift off so that you have flames licking the bottom of your pot and are using a pot w/ a fire ring.

pen

Fire ring...like a Wok uses?

I don't understand what you mean by a burner lid?

Thanks!

-Emt1581

 

[pen]

Look at this stove. See the removable sections from the top where you would set your pot so that the pot would actually have flames kissing it's bottom.

A cast iron pan w/ a fire ring is not completely smooth on the bottom, it will have a lip on the outer surface of the bottom that would seal against the stove top to keep smoke from coming into the house.

This pan has a smoke ring

this pan does not

pen

 

[emt1581]

Ohhh I see what you mean. My stove will have a flip top lid (top loading) but I think if I lift that up and try to cook like that all the smoke will come out.

-Emt1581

 

[pen]

if your crock pot food is giving you trouble (gastronomically). Try slipping in a 1/4 tea of ginger. My father has the same problem and he found he can sneak a little ground ginger into things w/out changing the flavor much but it helps reduce the heartburn / burping / you get the idea/ that he would have w/ slow cooked foods. We do the same w/ our homemade kielbasa now too. Noboby can taste the ginger and nobody is re-tasting the kielbasa after the meal anymore either. Nothing worse than food that keeps coming back to remind you that you ate it.

pen

 

[Mrs. Krabappel]

Wow Pen, nice stuff!!

 

[dougand3]

So wait...crock pot stuff? No boiling water for rice or pasta? No frying (fish, potatoes, etc.)? I figured the stove would be more versatile than just crock pot stuff, most of which usually gives me horrible heart burn.

-Emt1581

I boil water for tea in 3 qt pan. Cook hamburgers and home fries in cast iron skillet. Heat canned veggies. Make hard boiled eggs. Make popcorn. You could make rice if you bring to boil then place pan on cast iron trivet to get to simmer - have to watch closely, tho. Be tidy like Pen does with Al foil or have some grease on stove top for a day or 2.

 

[PapaDave]

So wait...crock pot stuff? No boiling water for rice or pasta? No frying (fish, potatoes, etc.)? I figured the stove would be more versatile than just crock pot stuff, most of which usually gives me horrible heart burn.

-Emt1581

I boil water for tea in 3 qt pan. Cook hamburgers and home fries in cast iron skillet. Heat canned veggies. Make hard boiled eggs. Make popcorn. You could make rice if you bring to boil then place pan on cast iron trivet to get to simmer - have to watch closely, tho. Be tidy like Pen does with Al foil or have some grease on stove top for a day or 2.

I do this quite often. I may even start with the pot right on the stove surface, then move to an old gas stove cast burner I use as a trivet.
Actually, doing it right now.

 

[PapaDave]

I gotta ask pen, do you have a "best practice" for seasoning your cast stuff? Particular oil that you use?
I've got a few old skillets (small and large) which have starting to rust again after seasoning. I can find these things at the goodwill all the time for just a few bucks.
The "antique" places want a small fortune for them.

 

[tickbitty]

I gotta ask pen, do you have a "best practice" for seasoning your cast stuff? Particular oil that you use?
I've got a few old skillets (small and large) which have starting to rust again after seasoning. I can find these things at the goodwill all the time for just a few bucks.
The "antique" places want a small fortune for them.

If the pans need a major cleaning, oven cleaner and then seal it in a plastic bag. Then wash totally and "bake" the clean oven, then season with Crisco and bake it on there. Works perfectly.
http://www.wag-society.org/Electrolysis/seasoning.php

PS, I have the exact same Griswold oven! It just about fits on my stove top - (and it's an insert!)

 

[tickbitty]

There are some good woodstove-top recipes and links on the Lopi website here:
http://www.lopistoves.com/stovecooking/

 

[SteveKG]

I gotta ask pen, do you have a "best practice" for seasoning your cast stuff? Particular oil that you use?
I've got a few old skillets (small and large) which have starting to rust again after seasoning. I can find these things at the goodwill all the time for just a few bucks.
The "antique" places want a small fortune for them.

I just went back to cast iron after some years. I grew more and more concerned about using non-stick cookware and the chemicals they give off and into the food. My mother turned me on to Lodge cookware, made in Tennessee. My old stuff was mostly made in Taiwan and other places like that. I could never get it to be seasoned very well and the iron degraded over time. I've been using Lodge now for four months and nothing has stuck to it. I mean, nothing. Or, nothing that would not clean off with a bit of hot water and a brush. Lodge comes pre-seasoned, and is very inexpensive. As in, a large skillet for $20 and a smaller one for $16. Check them out on amazon.com. Also sold in many stores.

I have found, in my brief four-month return, that using only hot water and a scrub brush or pad is all that's needed to clean them. One of my problems in the past is likely that I could not stand the idea of not using soap. The instructions say, no soap. This time I tried it and it works perfectly with just hot water. I have cooked things such as eggs and French toast and had zero sticking.

In the winter, 80% or more of my cooking is done on the wood stove. I don't cook things that spatter a lot on the wood stove but on a propane range. Just to prevent the mess. But the wood stove top will heat my tea water about three or four times faster than the propane burners. My wife has a good friend whose hobby is cooking, and she has spent big money remodeling her kitchen with all kinds of fancy stoves, etc. We had her up last weekend and I had prepared a big meal completely on the wood stove, not to show off but simply because I do. She was stunned at the food and very impressed with the use of the wood stove for cooking. I just do it because I like to, find it to be easy, and hate paying for propane.

 

[begreen]

I have an old cast iron dutch oven that i got while in college about 15 years ago. Woudn't put my Le Creuset on there.

I just got the exact same message from the kitchen. Guess I need to be looking out for a good old one if we're going to try in the wood stove cooking of more than potatoes.

 

[katwillny]

I have an old cast iron dutch oven that i got while in college about 15 years ago. Woudn't put my Le Creuset on there.

That fancy french dutch oven can take a blistering from propane or a glowing electric coil but would get injured on the top of your stove?

pen

Pen, I meant inside the stove, sorry. I sometimes cook or bake inside the stove when the coals are nice and hot.

 

[fishinpa]

Hopefuylly I can get these pictures to work.

I was at my brothers in western PA this past fall and his oven would not fire up & we were committed to bringing desert to a family function.

No problem, I rigged an oven on TOP of his wood stove, using one of those cookie racks that you put stuff on coming out of the oven. You know that type... has legs that keep the goods 1/2 in off the counter.

I used one of those to put the Cobbler dish on, surrounded it with foil and made a lid.

Dang good cobbler if I DO say so myself. The ingenuity factor made it all that much better to me.

 

[emt1581]

I know yall said that without the flames directly contacting the pot/pan we are reduced to crock pot type meals but my stove has been 450 with low air flow and when I open it up at gets up to 600-700. Now I know that's overfiring it and can damage the stove, but for 30 mins or so I can't see any real harm...no?

I haven't seasoned my VERY OLD set of cast iron pans yet, but I'll try frying up some bacon and eggs and report back.

Also, does anyone make a cooktop that will seal around the gasket but still have a hole to let the flames touch the bottom of the pot/pan?

-Emt1581